


Behind Every Great Man (is a woman with a big gun)

by Aviss



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Actually more like inspired by FMA, F/M, FMA Fusion, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Pining, no need to know that canon to understand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28452408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviss/pseuds/Aviss
Summary: It's taken Jaime a long time to get to the goal they have been working hard for, except now that it's within reach he realizes the most important thing has always been closer.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 35
Kudos: 120
Collections: JB Festive Festival Exchange Stocking Stuffers 2020





	Behind Every Great Man (is a woman with a big gun)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nire/gifts), [PrettyThief](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyThief/gifts).



> This is technically none of your prompts, but considering you were the enablers that got me thinking about FMA au and this idea refused to leave my brain, here's a short filler while I finish the other one. Hope you like it!
> 
> Note: Well, this is more inspired by a certain relationship/pairing in FMA than a proper AU, for one, there is no alchemy

Jaime looked at his reflection on the window and straightened his uniform, picking non-existent lint off the starched lines of his jacket. He stared at the image of his office in the glass, the empty space some other general would fill and make his as soon as Jaime was out. 

It wouldn't be the same, though, they wouldn't make it practically a home for them and their team like it had been for Jaime these past few years while they all worked, for more hours than it was sane to admit, towards their shared goal of getting him into the highest office to effect some much needed change. 

The goal that they had finally made real today.

He was going to miss his team, miss their boisterous presence around him now he wouldn't be forced to share space with them. They would all still be his people, his family by choice, and they'd still work for him, but it wouldn't be the same. 

There, by the archive drawers, was the corner where Peck and Pia used to bicker over the reports, the tension between the two of them so thick Jaime had resorted to pushing them into a cupboard one day until they either kissed or killed each other. They had come out with bruised lips and red faces, and it had not fixed their bickering, just changed the tone of it. There, by the low table, was where Addam bragged about his conquest of the week, imaginary or real, to a star struck Podrick while they played with the communications equipment, the delicate transistors and wiring safe in the hands of the boy with two left feet and a collection of bruises born out of clumsiness.

There was the scorch mark by his desk from that time Arya Stark had taken umbrage at something Jaime had said, her sister's laugh echoing around the office while Jaime had scrambled to douse the fire under the amused stares of his subordinates. None of them had helped him.

And there, barely seen outside of his door, was the desk Brienne had occupied all those years, her presence as solid and as necessary as the foundations of the building. She had been there from the beginning, before they took this office in the capital and formed the team. Brienne had been there during the war too, her blue eyes and stern expressions a compass for when Jaime lacked direction and a reminder for when he faltered, and had been there after, when Jaime would have lost himself to despair and guilt. 

She had comforted, encouraged and straight up bullied Jaime in turn, depending on what he needed, and he was aware enough to know he wouldn't be where he was without her.

She was there now, standing by the door in her dress uniform waiting for him. 

"The car is outside, sir," she said, a thread of impatience in her voice, as if this wasn't the first time she called him.

Jaime must have spent more time lost in thoughts than he expected, he turned to look at her properly, not washed out as she was in the reflection, her colours faded and muted.

He had seen her thousands of times, in and out of uniform, tall and sturdy with her blonde hair pulled back in a practical bun, her collar always starched, her gun in her holster hidden under her perfectly pressed jacket. There was a time, back when Jaime was an arrogant brat without blood in his hands and still some trust in governments, in which he'd looked Brienne on the face and instead of keeping himself from kissing her by sheer force of will, he'd thought her ugly.

He liked to think he'd grown since then.

"They're not going to start the ceremony without me, Lieutenant," he said, picking up his hat and walking up to her. "I'm their new President, after all."

"They might, just to spite you," she countered, staring at him with her lips pressed into a thin line he really, really wanted to taste. "You already have enough enemies and you haven't been confirmed into your new position yet. You don't want to fail now you're so close to the finish line, do you sir?"

Jaime sighed, she was right. Of course. Like she always was, but he wanted today to not worry about things. 

"Can't we enjoy our triumph just for one day, Brienne?" Just one day before they had to get back to work.

It had been a decade long struggle to get there, longer than that if he was completely honest, something he usually avoided on principle. Long years after the war, building himself up block by block with a reputation as black as his conscience, finding allies and enemies alike in the most unexpected places, moving up step by gruelling step, first out in the Westerlands and then in the pit of vipers that was the capital. 

He wouldn't have succeeded without the Stark sisters and their reckless determination to reclaim what they had lost, allowing him to advance in their inexorable wake, and he would have never met them without Brienne. 

He didn't dare think what his life would be like without Brienne.

Her eyes softened marginally. "Of course, sir." She waited for him to walk past her and closed the door, taking her position two steps behind him. Watching his back. "After the ceremony you can relax, your first meeting is not until tomorrow at 9AM."

He rolled his eyes but said nothing until they were in the car, the screen separating them from the driver and giving them an illusion of privacy. "I'll have a whole afternoon to relax, what luxury."

He heard, more than saw, the smile on her face. "It is, for us."

"And what will you do with _all that time_?" He turned to look at her and there it was, the amused curve of her smile. Jaime leaned towards her almost unconsciously, eyes fixed on her mouth, on the way her lips parted on the exhale.

"I'll take a long bath and then curl on the couch with my cat." Her voice sounded wistful, and it was a great plan to relax after so much fighting, the kind of luxury time they had not enjoyed in way too long. It also sounded lonely. "What about you, sir?"

"When are you going to start calling me Jaime? I'm no longer your commanding officer." He'd been asking her for years, and the stubborn woman had only called him by his name on a handful of occasions, usually when he was in no state to enjoy it.

She insisted it was the thing to do considering their position, but that was about to change.

There were many other things that would change now she wasn't directly under his command, and both of them seemed suddenly aware of them, the air inside the car charged with the possibilities of everything they had pushed aside between them for years while they worked hard. 

It was there in the way their eyes moved quickly to their mouths, only to startle up in the next heartbeat as if they were doing something forbidden. There in the careful distance carved between their fingertips, always close enough to feel their heat but never touching. There in the raised scar on her collarbone where she had been hurt for him and refused to be used to hurt him, worn now with pride but that had been so very, very close to taking her from his side. There in her quick draw and flawless aim when someone or something threatened him and his vision of the future, something more often repeated the higher he climbed in the hierarchy. There in his refusal to exchange her proximity to advance his career, and in her willingness to do it when he had been threatened. 

And now it could finally be realised, now it wasn't forbidden, not anymore. 

Brienne licked her lips and Jaime followed the motion, leaning even closer to her. 

"You are _everyone's_ commanding officer now, sir," she said, her voice thready and low, the tension between their bodies as taut as he had ever felt it.

"Yes, and nobody expects me to remain single the rest of my life." 

She took in a sharp breath, swaying a bit, and attacked her lower bit, nervously biting it for a moment. "Is that what you're offering me, Jaime? The rest of your life?" 

The combination of the name and the voice were like a punch in the gut, heat spreading in him, the distance between them shortening until all Jaime could see now were her extraordinary eyes, the pupils blown and ringed by the most astounding blue. 

"What else? It is yours, it will always be yours, Brienne." He finally touched her, placing a careful hand on her shoulder, thumb feeling the raised ridge of the scar and the shudder that went through her. "You've had my life and heart in your hands for years, it is only now that I can let the rest of the world know." He had a fleeting moment of doubt, because everything between them had always remained unsaid, it was hard enough to know it was impossible when it was just a desire and a dream, he would not have been able to keep away if he knew for certain she felt the same. "If that's something you want?"

"If that's something I want?" She pulled back to stare at him with the most incredulous look he had ever seen. " _It's all I've wanted_ ," she blurted out, seemingly against her will, a crimson blush spilling down her cheeks and continuing on her neck. 

He had the sudden thought he might finally see whether it reached even lower, and he maybe he would get to press his lips against the soft skin of her breastbone and feel the heat of her blush against them. It was him who licked his lips now, hand moving from her shoulder to the back of her neck, the lightlest of pulls and Brienne was practically falling into him, their lips brushing, her breath warm against his skin. 

The car stopped then, and they pulled apart as if burned, years of forceful distance ingrained in them. "Sir, we've arrived at the Red Keep," the driver said, sounding as professional and composed as they were not.

Jaime swallowed harshly. "We'll be out in a minute," he said, finding his voice, though it sounded nothing like him to his own ears.

"Come on, Jaime," Brienne said, and the carefully maintained professionalism was being drawn between them once again, the previous intimacy slipping through his fingers. "You're so close to the thing you've wanted the most all these years. Don't risk it."

She meant the investment ceremony, she meant his new position and responsibilities, she meant everything but what really mattered. 

He really was closer than ever to the thing he wanted the most, it had been right under his nose the entire time. 

"You are right, I won't risk losing it."

He kissed her.

...


End file.
